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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27182722">The Avatar's Love</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/momoandzuzu18/pseuds/momoandzuzu18'>momoandzuzu18</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 07:48:45</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>9,102</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27182722</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/momoandzuzu18/pseuds/momoandzuzu18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>AU in which there is no balcony kiss or get together after the end of the Hundred Year War. Several years later, Aang is still not over his feelings for his best friend. One night, his friends get drunk at a party and Toph says something that causes Katara to begin to see him in a different light.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aang/Katara (Avatar)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>95</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Avatar's Love</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Several days before Zuko’s birthday, Aang was nearing the South Pole on his way to escort Katara to the Palace. Zuko had offered to send ships, but Aang had suggested that he bring Katara himself. He had not seen the South Pole’s most recent reconstruction work, and he had to admit to himself that he was eager to see her as well. Given her enthusiastic response letter, she was nearly as excited as he was, which always pleased him in a way that he always wished it didn’t. It hadn’t even been that long since they’d parted ways; she’d spent maybe the last month in the South Pole to help out there while he attended some meetings, but she was often involved in diplomatic efforts alongside him. Sokka had actually been with him instead, but Aang had dropped him off with Toph. She had accepted the invitation which Katara had denied, always looking for an alternative to riding on Appa’s back, and Sokka was planning to travel with her to keep her company and catch up. Aang was sort of glad for this in a way that, again, he wished he wasn’t, for this meant he’d get to be alone with Katara for the whole journey to the Fire Nation. After five years, Aang had all but given up hope of Katara growing to see him in any kind of romantic way. He just wished his heart would get the message and stop wanting her so badly. </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>The party came and went in a blur of formalities and diplomacy. Once the last few stragglers had all but been forced from the palace, they were all exhausted, but Zuko most of all; at 21, he was developing deep dark patches under his eyes and a sense of exhaustion Aang could only try to empathize with. He turned to them all after the servants had shut the palace doors and plastered on a smile. </p><p> </p><p>“Now then,” he said, gesturing to the group, “Let’s go celebrate my birthday.”</p><p> </p><p>He led them out of the lobby and down a hallway, and eventually to a lounge that had been set up for them, complete with snacks, liquors, and sake. Immediately, Sokka went for the hors d'oeuvres while Toph went for the liqueur. Eventually, with much less gusto, the others made their way to the drinks as well. Since growing older, this had become a regular part of their gatherings, when their schedules allowed for them. Aang almost always chose to abstain, and Toph had long since given up on teasing him about it. </p><p> </p><p>Aang missed his friends, truly, but as they began to have second and third and fourth servings and their inhibitions faded, he often found himself feeling strangely odd and aware of his own sobriety. Part of this was the way a drunk Katara was not so careful about playing with the strings of his heart as when sober; she often sat too close, laughed too loud, leaning in too far, and unintentionally made his chest tight with affection. He wanted to enjoy these nights with his friends, but he always ended up going to bed after with lingering guilt for stirring these feelings back up. The night came around to that point before long, with Sokka and Toph leading the rest of their friends in shots to shake off any feelings of stuffiness left from the royals and diplomats they had spent much of the day with. After the group finished their last swig with a cheer, they sat around talking as a group, catching up for a bit. As the alcohol began to set in, they began breaking off into groups; once the conversation died down, Toph quickly became bored and turned to Katara, who was beginning to lean tipsily against Aang’s shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, Sweetness,” Toph asked, grinning at their closeness, “Why didn’t you bring your boy?”</p><p> </p><p>Katara straightened up with a frown, avoiding Aang as he watched her intently, trying to remain neutral. He had not known she was in a relationship; it was not uncommon, lately, for him to not find out about her boyfriends until after they had broken up. This was only partially because Katara avoided telling him, as the relationships were often short enough that he wasn’t surprised he hadn’t noticed. However, Katara hadn’t seemed sad the way she did now since he had arrived at the South Pole. </p><p> </p><p>“We broke up,” she responded after a moment just long enough to seem awkward to Aang in his sobriety.</p><p> </p><p>Toph laughed, and Katara’s lips twitched in discomfort. “I <em> knew </em> that one was coming,” she said.</p><p> </p><p>“Toph, I am <em> not </em> about to start taking relationship advice from you. You always tell me I’m about to break up with whoever I’m with,” Katara told her, blue eyes wide and downcast.</p><p> </p><p>“And I’m usually right,” Toph asserts, leaning in with her conviction. “I say it because you always end up with these guys that just don’t… <em> work </em> with you.”</p><p> </p><p>Katara flushed bright red, leaving Aang confused. For the first time during the conversation, she turned to Aang to survey his face before turning to Toph and hissing, “You better not mean what I think you do.”</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t, but that too,” Toph said with a mischievous grin. “If you want to stop getting disappointed like this, you have to stop falling for boneheads who don’t respect you.”</p><p> </p><p>“You never even met him,” Katara protested.</p><p> </p><p>“I didn’t need to. I could tell by the way you talked about him,” Toph said. Katara looked contemplative and dejected, and Aang instinctively wrapped his arm around her shoulder comfortingly.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m sorry your relationship didn’t work out,” He said with as much sincerity as he could muster. </p><p> </p><p>“Yeah,” Katara said before turning to Toph again, “He kind of was a bonehead.”</p><p> </p><p>“I bet,” Toph agreed, sipping from the glass full of amber liquid in her hand. She then passed it to Katara, who glanced at the contents of the glass before tossing it back, causing Toph to laugh with glee. “Woo! Go, Katara.”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s just not worth thinking about,” she said plainly. “Maybe you have the right idea by just avoiding dating all together, Aang,” she joked, smiling at him. </p><p> </p><p>Before he could reply, Toph interrupted, “He definitely does <em> not </em> avoid dating completely. I’ve heard, ugh, and felt, exactly what he gets up to with some dates.”</p><p> </p><p>Aang felt his cheeks flush at his friend’s revelation. “Toph!”</p><p> </p><p>“I didn’t know you’ve been in relationships,” Katara said, looking stunned.</p><p> </p><p>“I haven’t,” Aang asserted, feeling the flush spread to his neck and ears, “I…”</p><p> </p><p>“Take girls home and give them the special Avatar treatment?” Toph said, cackling at her own joke. </p><p> </p><p>“What does that mean?” Katara asked, looking between them with her brows furrowed in confusion.</p><p> </p><p>“It <em> means </em> he definitely takes care of them,” Toph replied with a grin, “I had to find somewhere else to stay for the night when I couldn’t take the vibrations… or the screaming.”</p><p> </p><p>“<em> Toph, </em>” Aang said firmly, watching Katara’s blank expression as she stared at him. “That’s enough.”</p><p> </p><p>“I didn’t know,” Katara said simply.</p><p> </p><p>Aang felt at a loss as to what to say to her. Part of him wanted to tell her about it all, how he’d tried sleeping with girls from the Fire and Earth nation, nice, smart, charming girls who looked nothing like Katara and somehow always morphed into her in his mind in bed at night under the cloak of darkness, how he’d never been interested in seeing any of them a second time despite his very best efforts to try to like them, to try to like anyone but her, how he’d been unsuccessful and had given up more than several months ago. He pushed that irrational part of himself aside and tried to smile at her. “My luck has been worse than yours, I think,” he said.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t know about that,” she replied with glassy eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t think either of you know what you want,” Toph said, gesturing for one of the palace servants to bring her another glass of liquor.</p><p> </p><p>“That’s rich coming from you,” Katara said with a scoff.</p><p> </p><p>“I know what I want,” Toph said as the servant returned with her drink. She took it from him and took a sip as he turned and walked away. “I want to work on my life and my career without some stupid boy following me around telling me what to do.”</p><p> </p><p>“She’s got us there,” Aang said to Katara after a beat of silence.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re both messes, though,” she continued after another swig, “Katara, you keep dating these losers who don’t respect you and expecting things to go differently, and Aang, somehow I doubt that what you want is to go around making every girl in the Earth Kingdom come all night.”</p><p> </p><p>Aang wasn’t sure whether his face or Katara’s was redder. “Toph!” he complained, “It hasn’t even been that many girls.”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, the night I was around for was definitely not your first,” she said with a grin. “You seemed… practiced.”</p><p> </p><p>Aang glanced at Katara and found her staring at him with dilated pupils and hazy eyes. “There hasn’t been anyone since,” he told them both.</p><p> </p><p>“Why not?” Katara pushed immediately.</p><p> </p><p>Aang looked at her in surprise. “Well… I supposed Toph more or less got that one right. It never really went well or went… anywhere.”</p><p> </p><p>“You haven’t had any girlfriends?” She asked in interest. Through the alcohol, she seemed unable to sense his discomfort. Toph, on the other hand, seemed to be deriving great entertainment from it.</p><p> </p><p>“No,” he said with a sigh, “I haven’t.”</p><p> </p><p>“Why not?” she pressed.</p><p> </p><p>Aang looked up in surprise, blushing all over again. “Katara,” he said with a soft laugh once he saw the fog of alcohol in her dilated pupils. “I just haven’t been interested.” When she looked at him for a long time without saying anything, her big blue eyes cold and calculating, he cleared his throat in discomfort. “Are you upset?” he asked to break the silence.</p><p> </p><p>“No,” she said immediately. Out of the corner of his eye, Aang noticed Toph lift her head in response to Katara’s quick answer. “I just… I’m just surprised. I didn’t expect that from you.”</p><p> </p><p>“Expect what?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.</p><p> </p><p>“You know… casual sex,” she said, causing him to cringe. “You don’t seem like that type of guy, but I guess we don’t really talk about this stuff,” she said. Aang blinked at her sincerity. For a moment, her drunken unawareness of the tension between them seemed to break and she shifted uncomfortably.</p><p> </p><p>“No, we don’t,” Aang agreed gently. “Does that bother you?”</p><p> </p><p>“I think I may have been the one that started that,” she admitted with a bashful smile. “It’s just weird.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah…” Aang said, looking over to Toph, who leaned against the arm of the nearest sofa, watching them as if they were hired entertainment for the night. “Maybe we can talk about this another time.” When her cheeks flushed in response, he quickly added, “Maybe tomorrow, when we don’t have an audience.”</p><p> </p><p>Finally, Katara seemed to remember that Toph was there and glanced over at her. She began to giggle, leaning into Aang’s side.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you okay?” He asked, rubbing her shoulder instinctively. She buried her face against his shoulder, muffling her giggles against his robe. He turned to Toph, confused, to find her still grinning at them.</p><p> </p><p>“Sugar Queen is wasted,” Toph announced proudly.</p><p> </p><p>“Thanks for the update,” Aang replied sourly.</p><p> </p><p>“I think I’m just tired,” Katara said, finally recovering from her giggles. “It’s been a long day.”</p><p> </p><p>“I think it might be both,” Aang offered with a half smile. “Do you want me to help you back to your room? It is getting late.”</p><p> </p><p>Toph shook her head at the two of them and turned away to go get another drink as Katara nodded, yawning into his shoulder. She tried to straighten up and take a step forward but stumbled almost right away and then stopped, looking surprised.</p><p> </p><p>“Come on,” he told her, wrapping an arm around her waist, “I’ll help you.”</p><p> </p><p>Her cheeks flushed as he held her waist to support her, a mixture of alcohol and embarrassment. Nevertheless, they made their way slowly and carefully out of the room and down the stone hallways towards their guest rooms. </p><p> </p><p>“I’m sorry we don’t talk about that stuff,” she said suddenly, just as they were turning the corner to the wing of guest rooms. “We can if you want to, I don’t mind. I just didn’t want to make you uncomfortable,” she rambled as they came upon her door. He opened it and helped her inside. </p><p> </p><p>“You never make me uncomfortable,” he assured her. She began to undress as if he were not there, and he quickly turned away, flushing.</p><p> </p><p>She laughed in response. “Not even just now?” she teased. “I just don’t mean to hurt your feelings, or make you think that… I don’t know, that I don’t want to tell you about that part of my life, because it’s not that.”</p><p> </p><p>“I know,” he told her softly, turning back around once he no longer heard the rustling of material. She was in only her bindings and was trying to stumble towards the bed. He was at her side in a second, helping her under the covers.</p><p> </p><p>She was asleep in moments. She looked so peaceful, then, and he left her to her dreams to return back to his own guest room.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>A few nights later, they were spending their last night in the Fire Nation, and he and Katara had been spending the day together, not yet ready to say goodbye again so quickly. They were in his guest room, then, sitting on the bed together, catching up and discussing their friends. Once the topic of the party several nights prior was raised, Katara became very quiet.</p><p> </p><p>“I can’t stop thinking about what Toph said,” she told him finally, her ocean blue eyes open and vulnerable.</p><p> </p><p>He looked at her for a long moment, feeling the tension bubble between them. “What did Toph say?” he asked.</p><p> </p><p>“You know what she said,” Katara replied, her cheeks turning pink as she looked away. “<em> You </em> were sober.”</p><p> </p><p>Aang watched her downcast face, scrambling for something to say in response. He had no idea where she was going with this or what she was trying to say, but he could tell that aside from her embarrassment, this was something she wanted to talk to him about. He leaned forward slightly, trying to catch her eyes again. “Talk to me, Katara. What have you been thinking about?”</p><p> </p><p>She pulled her legs up to her chest and folded her arms atop her knees, burying her face in her forearms. “Was she telling the truth or just really trying to make you uncomfortable?” </p><p> </p><p>“It’s always a little bit of both,” he joked, “What do you mean exactly?”</p><p> </p><p>She took a deep breath and then lifted her head just enough to peek at him. “About those girls. Well, I guess she said she just heard the one,” she said nervously. </p><p> </p><p>“What about them?” He asked gently.</p><p> </p><p>“Aang, come on, don’t make me say it,” she said, looking at him pleadingly. Something in his expression must have conveyed his uncertainty, because she sighed and sat up straighter. “I’ll go first. Remember when Toph was teasing me about how all the boys I’ve been with have been wrong for me?” When Aang nodded, she continued, glancing away from him, “Well… I’ve been in a few relationships and none of them have lasted long which I’m sure you’ve noticed, but the other part of it is,” she paused to sigh, her cheeks flushing, “I’ve never… <em> enjoyed </em> having sex with any of the guys I’ve been with, if you know what I mean.”</p><p> </p><p>He paused to process, taking in her hunched shoulders and flushed cheeks. “You’ve never come during sex?” he asked, somewhat surprised. Katara was incredibly attractive, but she was also a very physical person, always touching her friends and, on rare occasions he had actually seen her in a relationship, lovers. He could not imagine her having an intimate relationship with someone so… passively.</p><p> </p><p>She shook her head, her cheeks bright red. “I guess that’s just why I was surprised,” she explained. “That, and you’ve never mentioned anything about seeing anyone or… you know.”</p><p> </p><p>Aang grimaced. “It always started out as a date,” he explained, “And then I just… wouldn’t have interest in another. It was never worth mentioning. And I’ve never just brought girls home to <em> sleep with the Avatar </em>, as Toph was trying to frame it,” he joked.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m sure,” she said, “Just that… obviously it was enough for you to learn how to show them a good time, unless <em> they </em> were the ones putting on a show for the Avatar,” she teased.</p><p> </p><p>“If it makes you feel better to think so,” he responded coyly, smiling back at her when she glared at him.</p><p> </p><p>“Really! Toph wasn’t just messing with us?” </p><p> </p><p>“No,” he said softly, watching her pink cheeks and wide, flustered blue eyes. “I mean, she was definitely exaggerating a little, but… if you’re really so curious, I don’t like to be the only person enjoying sex.”</p><p> </p><p>“Maybe that’s an Airbender thing,” she said with a smile. The joke lingers in the air between them for a moment.</p><p> </p><p>“Do you really think so?” he asked gently. When Katara said nothing in response, he added, “I don’t think Toph agrees, and I definitely had nothing to do with that.”</p><p> </p><p>She laughed then, scooting a bit closer to him. “I think Toph and I have very different tastes. Actually, that’s what she thinks the problem is.” </p><p> </p><p>“And what do you think?”</p><p> </p><p>“I think that’s Toph’s way of telling me I keep dating guys who don’t put the effort in to make sex enjoyable for me too,” she said honestly, sighing. “I don’t date… what did she say, boneheads? I don’t date guys like that on purpose.”</p><p> </p><p>“I know,” he told her.</p><p> </p><p>She looked at him for a long moment. He could tell that she was not done and could see more questions dancing around in her mind, so he sat back to give her time to process. Finally, she said, “I feel like an idiot for thinking that you weren’t ever seeing anyone.”</p><p> </p><p>“Why?” He asked, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.</p><p> </p><p>“I didn’t want to talk to you about any of this and make you feel bad that I was… well, but we were both with people and just not talking about it,” she said. “I feel stupid for trying to avoid it.”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s okay,” he told her, “I never told you, how would you know?”</p><p> </p><p>“I guess,” she admitted. “It just… I don’t know, it felt really surprising to me. I kept thinking about it,” she said again.</p><p> </p><p>“What do you mean by that? That you keep thinking about it?” he prodded gently. </p><p> </p><p>Katara’s cheeks deepened even further. She seemed so desperately embarrassed by this conversation but equally determined to get through it. Aang waited patiently for her to gather her thoughts. “Just what I’ve been missing out on, I guess.”</p><p> </p><p>Her wording was so direct that it shocked Aang, made his stomach float up into his chest, yet vague enough that he felt frustrated by her non-answers to his questions. Finally, unable to watch her fidget and avoid his gaze and blush before him any longer, in an attempt to sway the tension between them for better or worse, he leaned in to try to catch her eyes and teased, “Would you like a demonstration?”</p><p> </p><p>His words had the desired effect, causing her eyes to dart up to meet his right away. Her cheeks turned red and the flush spread down her neck, under the collar of her shirt as she assessed his nervous grin. Finally, she said, so softly he nearly didn’t hear her, “Maybe.”</p><p> </p><p>Aang was the one turning red then. They looked at each other for a long moment in silence before he cleared his throat and said, “Katara?”</p><p> </p><p>“Are you really offering?” she asked. Her pupils were wide, her cheeks still red with embarrassment. “I really… haven’t been able to stop thinking about it, for a few days now.”</p><p> </p><p>“Katara,” he said again. His mouth felt dry as he watched her, flustered and… that was lust swirling in her eyes, he thought hazily. “<em> That’s </em> what you meant? I’d love to, if you really do want to.”</p><p> </p><p>“Are we… What are we talking about? Just sex?” she stammered. </p><p> </p><p>“That’s what I assumed you meant,” he said as evenly as possible through the arousal flooding his body, “I don’t have a problem with that.”</p><p> </p><p>“Well,” she continued nervously, twirling a lock of her hair around her finger, “What if it… makes things weird, or makes us realize like… I don’t know, some weird or fucked up feelings we didn’t know about before?”</p><p> </p><p>“<em> I </em>know,” he told her confidently. The flush of her cheeks in response excited him in a delicious and forbidden way; he had forced himself for so long to avoid crossing that line, to avoid ever discussing his feelings for her so explicitly. He had daydreamt for so long of her cheeks blushing from his affection, her open blue eyes gazing at him without furrowed eyebrows, and now she was here in front of him. It was so dizzying that he thought it would be almost impossible to stop now that he had started. Almost.</p><p> </p><p>Slowly, her flush faded into a more familiar look of hesitation. “Are you sure—“</p><p> </p><p>“Katara,” he interrupted, leaning in slightly, reveling in the way it made her cheeks turn pink again, “I’m okay. We’ve dealt with a lot together over the last five years including more than enough… awkwardness about my feelings for you for me to understand where we stand. We’ve been best friends through all of that, and I don’t plan on letting that change,” he told her firmly. Her eyes glimmered with something Aang couldn’t identify, a rarity with Katara, who he knew better than anyone in the world, and it made his heart race. </p><p> </p><p>“I don’t want it to either,” she said just as adamantly. She watched him for a reaction, but he waited for her in return. He didn’t want to say or do anything to persuade her further; if they were going to do this, he was going to make sure it was her decision. “If you’re sure it’s going to be okay, I trust you… I want to trust you.”</p><p> </p><p>Aang watched her face for a moment as he took in the implications of her words. She was telling him she wanted to have sex with him, and not just in a general way, but in an actual, concrete, here-and-now invitational way. </p><p> </p><p>“Aang?” She asked softly, reaching forward to place a hand on the front of his chest, just above his one-shouldered robes. “Is this… are we going to do this?”</p><p> </p><p>“If you want to, I want to,” he told her genuinely. Her eyes moved down to watch her own hand as she slid it under the material and over the hard muscle of his chest. He shivered beneath her touch and she looked back up at him, smiling.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay,” she said softly. “Now?”</p><p> </p><p>She watched as he closed his eyes and straightened his posture, taking a deep breath before letting it back out and opening his eyes again. “Sure,” he said.</p><p> </p><p>When she hesitated, unsure where to start, he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers as he had several times five years ago. She seemed frozen against him, so he pulled back and looked at her questioningly, one eyebrow raised.</p><p> </p><p>“I thought we said just sex,” she said, flustered as she removed her hand from his chest.</p><p> </p><p>“Katara,” he laughed, “Kissing is part of sex. We don’t have to if you don’t want to, though.”</p><p> </p><p>She stared at him for a moment, considering this, before leaning in to kiss him herself this time. He wound an arm around her waist to pull her closer, running his tongue along her plump bottom lip until her own tongue finally met his. Aang felt her hands meet the ties on his robes and begin deftly undoing them. He pulled away to help her, taking in her flushed cheeks and wet lips and rumpled hair; she looked so gorgeous it made his heart throb in his chest. Finally, he moved to join her in removing his robes, sliding them over his head. He dropped them onto the floor at the bedside, eager to return his attention to Katara. He found her staring at his chest, and she reached out to run a hand over the muscle there again, and then trailed her fingers down his stomach to the tuft of hair above the waistband of his pants. She smirked at him when he shivered in response, her eyes moving down to the bulge straining against his pants.</p><p> </p><p>“Excited?” she asked jokingly.</p><p> </p><p>“You have no idea,” he responded softly, leaning in to kiss her again, passionate but brief. He pulled away to begin untying one of the ribbons fastening her top together, and she reached for another to help him. Soon, she was sliding the material off and was in her bindings in front of him. Without hesitating, she began unwinding the material to remove that as well.</p><p> </p><p>He watched as she exposed her chest to him, his heart racing in his chest as if he were still the 12 year old he was when he first started falling for her. Finally, she dropped the wrappings to the floor with the rest of their clothing and looked up at him, blushing. </p><p> </p><p>“You’re so sexy,” he told her, taking in the swell of her breasts and the dark pink buds of her nipples. When he looked back up to meet her eyes, her face was red with embarrassment from his attention. He dove in to kiss her again, but she stopped him with a hand on his chest.</p><p> </p><p>“You are too,” she breathed, “I feel like you turned into a man without me noticing.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not the only one who’s grown,” he teased through the shock of her compliment, resting a hand on her waist over her rib cage. He could feel her heart pounding beneath his fingertips until he slid his fingers over the curve of her breast and gave it a gentle squeeze, running his thumb just teasingly over her nipple. She gasped, a delicious sound that made his head swim and his cock twitch within the confines of his pants, so he did it again. He wanted to learn her body, to make her feel how none of her previous lovers had been able to. When he tried to lean in and kiss her, she pushed him away once again.</p><p> </p><p>“Hang on,” she said, beginning to stand up, “I want to take this off too.” He watched in amazement as she began removing her skirt, but was interrupted by a stern glare from her. “You too.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes ma’am,” he replied with a grin, joining her by the bedside to remove his pants as well. Once they were on the floor as well, he straightened up to find Katara, in just her lower wrappings, staring at the obvious shape of his erection through his underwear. He himself took a moment to admire the blush on her face before moving down to take in the soft curves of her thighs. All of her muscles were strong and toned; Aang knew how strong she was. Still, there was a softness to her body at every curve, around her hips and thighs and chest, that he was able to take in now that he was seeing her up close and… well, allowed to look without making her uncomfortable. His eyes darted back up to her face once she let out a shaky sigh. </p><p> </p><p>“Everything okay?” Aang asked, moving to sit on the side of the bed. When he held a hand out for her, she took it, climbing over him to settle against the pillows. He grinned and turned to join her.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah,” she said finally, once he was facing her, “I guess you’re not the only one who’s excited,” she joked, pressing her hips to his side in invitation.</p><p> </p><p>He took a deep breath of his own in an effort to calm down once he thought of her getting wet for him. When he opened his eyes, she was looking at him in anticipation of his next move. He tried once more to lean in for a kiss, and this time she let him, her lips sliding open against his own with a contented hum. He moved his hand to her breast again, rubbing his thumb over her nipple a few times. She shivered underneath him and spread her legs, her knee nudging his thigh gently. </p><p> </p><p>He pulled away to ask, “Can I touch you?”</p><p> </p><p>She nodded, sitting up to shimmy out of her under wrappings. He watched in amazement as she bared herself to him, the soft curves of her hips and the tuft of curly brown hair just above the meeting of her thighs. Once the material was gone, she laid back down next to him, parting her legs once again. He moved his hand down from her breast, over her stomach, as he leaned back in to kiss her again. When he reached her slit, he took a moment to gently circle his fingers around her sensitive, swollen nub. She sucked in a sharp breath in response. He slid his fingers down to gather the wetness at her entrance and was surprised to find how slick she was, causing him to moan helplessly into their kiss. She bucked her hips beneath his touch, and he carefully slid a finger inside of her; when it faced little resistance, he added another, using his thumb to circle around her clit. </p><p> </p><p>Katara moaned into his mouth and he pulled away to kiss his way down her neck. She reached for the back of his neck, sliding her hand over the smooth, shaved skin there. His teeth nipped gently at the skin just above her collarbone, and she shivered beneath him when he began trailing his kisses lower, over her chest as he continued his motions against her center. As his lips reached the side of one of her breast, he placed a wet, open mouthed kiss along the curve of her flesh there. Her nails dug into his neck in response, and when he glanced up at her, her head was thrown back in pleasure, her mouth open just slightly as she tried to catch her breath. Finally, he closed his lips around the perfect, dark pink bud of her nipple, flicking his tongue over it as it grew even harder.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh! Aang,” she gasped, her fingers sliding down to grip at his shoulders. When he stopped to look at her, she immediately reassured him, “That feels really good.”</p><p> </p><p>He grinned proudly for a second before returning to the task at hand, his fingers resuming just as he leaned in to kiss her other breast as well. She sighed happily beneath him when he reached her other nipple, and he teased her there as well, sucking gently. When her thighs began to tighten around his hand, he pulled away to look up at her.</p><p> </p><p>“Katara,” he said, pausing to smile when his breath against the wetness he’d left behind on her chest made her shiver again. She frowned as he began to move, his fingers sliding from within her, then looked confused as he shifted to lie over her, his face level with the apex of her currently closed legs. “I want to make you come with my mouth,” he told her softly, “Is that okay?”</p><p> </p><p>She looked shocked for a moment before she recovered; then, she nodded, her face red as a tomato as she parted her legs for him. He took a deep breath, both to calm himself and to take in her smell. His cock throbbed against the mattress in response. Slowly, he leaned down to place a kiss to her most sensitive spot before running his tongue along the length of her slit, circling her entrance. She groaned beneath him, lifting her hips slightly in a plea for more. Eager to comply, Aang flicked his tongue over the sensitive nub at the tip again while he pressed two fingers back inside of her slowly, marveling at the way her wet walls felt around his digits. </p><p> </p><p>She began squirming against him after a moment of stimulation, her breathing growing heavier. She gasped his name and he reveled in the sound of it, his cock pulsing painfully within his underwear as he tried to suppress the urge to drive himself inside of her right then and there. She tasted incredible to him, sweet and musky, like pure sex. When she closed her strong thighs around his head, he found himself moaning as well, excited to make her feel good. She was whimpering then, clutching the back of his head with one hand and fisting the blanket in the other. He moved his tongue rapidly, adding a third finger to his repeated thrusts inside of her. She moaned his name loudly, her thighs quaking on either side of his head, and then she was coming, her walls seizing around his fingers as her fluid gushed against his lips. He lapped it up eagerly as she came back down from her high. Once her muscles stopped spasming, he moved to lie beside her on the bed once more.</p><p> </p><p>“Aang,” she gasped, turning to face him. Her hand slid down his chest, and she hooked her finger in the front waistband of his underwear. “Can I…?” she asked.</p><p> </p><p>“Let’s focus on you tonight,” he said softly, leaning in to kiss her jawline where a drop of sweat had gathered. She tasted sweet.</p><p> </p><p>“Do you usually turn down reciprocation in bed?” She asked sardonically, her voice soft against his ear despite her words.</p><p> </p><p>“No,” he said, lifting himself up enough to look her in the eyes. He was surprised to see vulnerability in her blue orbs, her brows furrowed just so as she watched his face for his reaction. Carefully, he lowered his hips against hers until she could feel his arousal pressing against her inner thigh. She gasped, her cheeks reddening as she kept her eyes locked on his. With an affectionate smile, he explained, “I’ve never been this close to coming in my underwear with any other girl.”</p><p> </p><p>At this, the redness in her cheeks spread all the way down to her neck. “What? Why? I haven’t even touched you,” she asked, flustered.</p><p> </p><p>“Katara,” he said in awe, “You came all over my face a minute ago.”</p><p> </p><p>“You liked that?” She asked, looking away, embarrassed at the mention of what had happened just moments ago.</p><p> </p><p>“I <em> really, really </em> liked it,” he told her enthusiastically, “I liked how much <em> you </em>liked it, too.”</p><p> </p><p>Katara took a shuddering breath beneath him, and Aang took this as his signal to change the topic before he ruined the mood.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s <em> not </em> that I don’t want you to. I just don’t want this to be over before it starts,” he reassured her.</p><p> </p><p>She nodded, her eyes focused on him with that strangely open, vulnerable look once again. “Me neither,” she reassured him. “I want to keep going.”</p><p> </p><p>He was the one taking a sharp breath then, turned on by her certainty and confidence. She wrapped an arm around him to reach for his back, scratching her nails down the line of his tattoo. He leaned in to kiss her before she could see the intensity of the affection in his eyes then. She moved against him easily, opening her lips against his own wet ones before pulling away in surprise as their tongues met.</p><p> </p><p>“Sorry,” he said with a small smirk, “We don’t have to kiss if the taste bothers you.”</p><p> </p><p>She looked at him for a moment before slowly responding, “No, it’s okay, I was just… surprised.”</p><p> </p><p>That time, it was Katara who leaned up and kissed him, pulling him down to meet her with her arm around his neck. This time, when he slid his tongue against her own, she moaned into his mouth, sliding her hand down to the small of his back to try to pull him closer. When he shifted on top of her, supporting his weight on an elbow, she spread her legs beneath him in invitation. As her lips moved with his own, she thrust her hips up against his, his hard length sliding against her center through the material of his underwear. He could feel her wetness soaking through the fabric and pulled away, gasping. Katara looked amazed at the effect she was so easily able to have on him. He had spent years trying to avoid putting his true feelings on display for her, but now, when she was naked and wet and wanting beneath him, he had no hope of hiding how desperately he wanted her; he could only hope that she didn’t try to see through his sexual desire for her for what it really was.</p><p> </p><p>“Maybe you should take these off,” she purred, sliding the tips of her fingers under the fabric of his underwear. </p><p> </p><p>Carefully, he shifted himself off of her enough to pull them off and toss them to the floor along with the rest of their clothes. When he looked back up at her, her cheeks were red as she stared down as his newly revealed flesh. After a moment, she glanced back up at him, her eyes dark with need.</p><p> </p><p>“Please, Aang,” she begged, wiggling her hips enticingly. With a groan, he climbed back on top of her and lined their hips up until his cock slid against her wetness. </p><p> </p><p>“Are you sure?” he asked gently one final time. Her blue eyes flared beneath him.</p><p> </p><p>“<em> Yes </em>,” she said adamantly.</p><p> </p><p>“Tell me if it hurts at all, okay?” he murmured. When she nodded, he leaned in to capture her lips in a kiss. He reached between them to adjust himself until the head of his cock was pressing against her opening, just teasingly so. Then he took a moment to circle his fingers around her clit, enjoying the way she squirmed beneath him and sighed into his mouth. Slowly, her wetness began to spread, and he eased himself forward, pressing into her centimeter by centimeter. They moaned together as he filled her.</p><p> </p><p>“Aang,” she gasped once their pelvises met. He slid his hand up her stomach to cup one of her breasts.</p><p> </p><p>“Does this feel okay?” he asked softly, giving her a moment to adjust to the feeling of his hard length inside of her.</p><p> </p><p>Her eyes were wide as she gazed up at him, her mouth open just slightly. “Aang,” she breathed again, “It feels really good.”</p><p> </p><p>He grinned, leaning down to kiss her once again as he pulled his hips back slowly before pressing forward all the way once away. As he repeated the motion again and again, he began moving his hips faster. Her legs wrapped around him, her ankles hooked over the small of his back as she groaned into his kiss. She felt so <em> incredible </em> beneath him, so tight and hot and <em> so wet </em>; he could tell that she was enjoying herself almost at much as he was. He pulled away from her lips to kiss his way across her jawline. She smelled beautiful, so intoxicatingly like herself, and he moaned helplessly against her neck as he filled her over and over.  She arched her back beneath him and he ran his thumb over her nipple, repeating the motion when it hardened under his touch.</p><p> </p><p>“Katara,” he groaned, moving his hand from her breast to the back of her thigh, glancing at her face for approval. When only confusion broke through the pleasure on her face, he carefully adjusted her leg, gently pushing it up against her chest, her calf hooked over his shoulder. She looked even more confused until he smiled at her and drove himself forward into her once again, this time able to sink even deeper than before. “Okay?” he asked again.</p><p> </p><p>She nodded, her pupils blown wide as she gazed up at him. With this confirmation, he leaned back in to continue kissing her neck, which she craned to the other side to give him additional room. As he settled himself over her in their readjusted position, his thrusts began to pick up a steady rhythm once again. When she moaned beneath him, the vibrations reverberated through his lips against her throat. </p><p> </p><p>“You feel <em> so good, </em>” he murmured, his breath hitting her neck where he had just kissed her. She shivered beneath him. “You’re so wet,” he added, wonder in his voice as he drew his hips back and pressed himself forward into her once more in a steady motion. He brought his hand back up to her breast, his thumb circling her nipple. She sighed in pleasure.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m getting close again,” she admitted, her voice barely more than a whisper against his ear. He lifted his head just a bit to glance up at her and found her cheeks red once again, sweat beading on her forehead. Her eyes were closed and her face was glowing with pleasure. He knew he would not be able to last long, but he wanted her to come with him, wanted to make sure she really, truly enjoyed herself tonight. Giving her nipple a gentle squeeze, he slid his hand between them to run his fingers over her most sensitive spot again. She arched her back beneath him with a groan.</p><p> </p><p>“Aang,” she gasped, sliding one of her hands over his muscular chest, scratching with her nails as she went.</p><p> </p><p>“Katara,” he breathed in reply, leaning in to press a gentle kiss to her lips. “Do you want me to pull out? When I come,” he asked softly. </p><p> </p><p>She shook her head. When he looked confused, she asserted herself, her voice barely more than a whimper as she raised her hips in an attempt to meet his slow, deep thrusts. “No, don’t.”</p><p> </p><p>Armed with an answer, he began moving his hips faster, his finger resuming its motion over her sensitive nub. She moaned his name, reaching up to wrap her hand around the back of his neck in order to pull him down for a kiss. Aang complied easily, moving his lips against her own fervently. Her body quivered beneath him with her oncoming orgasm as she whimpered into his mouth. He pulled away to see her face, her red cheeks and her parted, swollen lips. She looked like every fantasy he’d had since he was 12, except he never could have imagined the reality of the situation, how incredible it felt to taste her, to make her wet, to touch her and be inside of her, and he could feel his own climax approaching as well. </p><p> </p><p>“Katara…” he murmured, leaning in to kiss her earlobe so that her gasping breath hit his neck in time with his hips snapping against her own. Then, he pulled back to look at her again as he breathed, “I want you to come with me, Katara.”</p><p> </p><p>Her eyes widened, and he felt her walls tighten. Aang wanted to look into her face, to see her eyes when she came, but she pulled him down into another kiss instead, her tongue moving roughly against his own. He buried himself inside her as her walls pulsed around his hard length, and he moaned her name into her mouth as they came together, blinded with pleasure as he released himself inside of her, wave after wave. </p><p> </p><p>Finally, once the ringing in their ears had stopped, Katara pulled away from their now quite gentle kiss with a giggle. </p><p> </p><p>“Aang,” she said gently, nudging his shoulder. With a sigh, he pulled out of her and adjusted himself, moving to lie down at her side. He watched in interest as she spread her legs and then moved her hand down her lower stomach until she reached the apex of her legs, drawing his release from within herself. He watched as she bent it into the garbage bin at his bedside.</p><p> </p><p>“You can bend that?” He asked in interest, having never tried or considered it himself.</p><p> </p><p>She smiled darkly at him. “I can bend your blood and control your whole body. Your cum is no big deal.”</p><p> </p><p>Something about that was vaguely arousing to him, and he felt it flare in his chest despite their recent climaxes. She turned to lie on her side facing him. “Can you lie on your back?” She asked.</p><p> </p><p>He did as she instructed, and she cuddled into his side. When she nudged his arm, he wrapped it around to rest on her back between her shoulder blades, holding her against him. He turned his head to face her and tried to take a deep but discrete breath; her hair smelled incredible, like something sweet and floral he couldn’t quite place his finger on. </p><p> </p><p>“So, I think you’ve ruined all other men for me,” she complained teasingly, an easy smile on her face as she nuzzled into him.</p><p> </p><p>“Now you know how I feel,” he responded, realizing belatedly that his voice was perhaps a bit too serious when Katara lifted her head to look into his eyes for a long moment, her cheeks pink.</p><p> </p><p>“Aang,” she breathed, burying her head against his chest once more, “Tell me why you never went on a second date with any of those girls.”</p><p> </p><p>“Katara?” he asked, confused.</p><p> </p><p>“<em> Tell me </em>,” she begged, still burrowing against him so that he couldn’t see her face. </p><p> </p><p>With a sigh, he ran a hand gently through her hair to soothe her. “I wasn’t attracted to any of them,” he admitted. Finally, she peeked up at him, so he kept going, “I thought maybe if I kept trying, but… I never wanted to see them a second time.”</p><p> </p><p>She kept staring at him, waiting for more. Finally, he frowned, looking guilty, and continued, “I was never really thinking about any of them, during… anything physical. I always felt so bad about it that I wouldn’t want to talk to them again.”</p><p> </p><p>“What did you think about, Aang?” she pressed, her blue eyes boring into his.</p><p> </p><p>“You,” he breathed finally, watching her eyes soften at his word. “I tried so hard not to.”</p><p> </p><p>Her eyes softened at her words, and she looked at him wordlessly for a moment. She was thinking something over, but she didn’t look upset with his confession; if anything, she seemed a bit flustered. Finally, she ran her hand over his chest in a slow, soothing motion. “I’m so afraid of hurting you,” she admitted in a whisper.</p><p> </p><p>“Katara, I told you that I’m fine,” he insisted gently.</p><p> </p><p>She kept staring at him; he felt as if she were trying to will him to understand some unspoken message, but he didn’t understand. <em> This </em> wasn’t something he felt like they had to discuss, as he knew where they stood and had stopped harboring delusions about changing that. The last thing he wanted was for her to worry that she’d hurt him and end up avoiding him.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, she took a deep breath and then exhaled. He counted with her and noticed fondly that she was doing one of his breathing exercises. Then, she met his eyes again and clarified, “I guess it’s more that I’m scared that you love me more than I love you. That’s not fair to you.”</p><p> </p><p>Her voice was barely more than a soft breath against his chest. His heart pounded under her words. “You don’t love me less than I love you,” he reassured her, running his hand over her back comfortingly, “We just love each other… differently, and that’s okay.”</p><p> </p><p>She was staring at him too deeply then, her eyes searching his own for the truth beneath his statement. “I don’t know,” she said uncertainly, glancing away.</p><p> </p><p>“Talk to me, Katara,” he told her patiently. When she looked back up at him, he saw the whole world in her eyes; his heart was still pounding over the fact that she was tucked naked under his arm in post-coital bliss.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t know how different our feelings are,” she continued, “I’ve been… thinking about you lately.”</p><p> </p><p>Aang felt his chest freeze as she watched him. “Thinking about me…?”</p><p> </p><p>She exhaled heavily. “Aang, I don’t want to hurt you, but I want to stay here tonight so badly. I want to wake up next to you tomorrow morning and do this all over again and… I want to try. I’m just scared.”</p><p> </p><p>“You want to try?” He asked, his head spinning with the possibility as he watched her, “Why are you scared?”</p><p> </p><p>“What if I change my mind? Or I’m not right about what I feel,” she said, her eyes shining with sadness at the idea.</p><p> </p><p>“Katara,” he said, his stiffness finally breaking to laugh softly at her silly question, “Then we’ll figure out how to go back to being friends.” When he looked into her eyes again, he read her worries there. “I’m going to be okay. I can’t promise that you’ll never hurt me, but we’re going to be okay. Always.” She stared at him for a long moment without saying anything, so he prompted, “Tell me how you feel.”</p><p> </p><p>She huffed, burying her head in his chest again. “That’s a loaded question.”</p><p> </p><p>“No, it’s not,” he told her softly, “Just be honest.”</p><p> </p><p>“I feel…” she paused, then lifted her head back up to look at him, “Aang, I only started thinking about… well, tonight, seriously since the night of Zuko’s party, but I’ve been considering it for a while, how it might be, what would be different between us and what it would feel like to have a physical relationship with you,” she said, blushing deeply. “I thought it would be weird and awkward, I thought… I don’t know what I thought, but it was perfect. I feel really, really happy, Aang.”</p><p> </p><p>“I feel the same way,” he said, trying to keep himself from getting teary-eyed. He had never expected for her to reciprocate his feelings, especially not tonight. Just that statement alone was more than he could have ever hoped for.</p><p> </p><p>“Tell me how <em> you </em>feel,” she pressed, “really. That’s a cop out.”</p><p> </p><p>He smiled at her, wanting desperately to touch her all over, her hips and her toned stomach and her hair, but he didn’t want to cross any currently murky boundaries, so he kept his hand on her upper back. “You know that I love you more than anything else in the world, Katara,” he breathed.</p><p> </p><p>Her cheeks flushed red at his words. “What about… all of this?”</p><p> </p><p>“I feel like I’m dreaming,” he offered, “I never thought you would feel the same way.”</p><p> </p><p>“I think it’s been a long time coming,” she admitted, her eyes never leaving his own. After a moment, she added, “Toph has been telling me so.”</p><p> </p><p>Aang laughed. “<em> That </em> ’ <em> s </em> what she was doing, playing Cupid? I thought she was just trying to embarrass me.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m sure she was happy to take the opportunity to do both at once,” Katara added with a smile. After a pause, she leaned in to kiss him, her lips moving against his slowly, gently, lovingly. When she pulled away, he could have sworn her eyes were actually sparkling. “You can touch me,” she breathed, “You feel all stiff.”</p><p> </p><p>He felt his cheeks grow hot at that, consciously relaxing his muscles and moving his hand to run gently through the ends of her hair. “I’m sorry,” he apologized, “I didn’t want… tell me if I make you uncomfortable.” Then, he lifted her, turning onto his back, bringing her with him so that she was laying on top of him. She looked surprised only for a moment before grinning and straddling his hips. </p><p> </p><p>When she looked into his eyes and saw the hesitation lingering there, she leaned in, reaching for his shoulders to pull herself closer until their noses were nearly touching. “I want to tell our friends in the morning.” She told him. His cheeks flushed in response, so she smirked at him and added, “That we’re together now.”</p><p> </p><p><em> Together </em>. He took a moment to let her words sink in. “Are you sure that’s what you want?” he asked, his voice soft with awe.</p><p> </p><p>“I love you, Aang,” she said gently, her blue eyes shining, “Honestly, when I said I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it all… it’s more than what Toph said. I don’t know when it happened, but I feel like I’m <em> always </em> thinking about you or missing you lately. It’s just… I think it was just intimidating because I know how you feel, even if you’ve been treating me like just a best friend.”</p><p> </p><p>“Katara,” he breathed, pushing her hair out of her face before cupping her cheek affectionately. His heart felt like it might burst in his chest at her expression of love. “We can tell the whole world, if you want.”</p><p> </p><p>She grinned. “Maybe one day. For now… maybe I can come with you? It feels pointless staying at home when they have reconstruction efforts perfectly under control there.”</p><p> </p><p>She wanted to travel with him. He ran a hand through her hair as he contemplated this, turning it over in his mind with amazement. “I would love that,” he said, leaning in to kiss her nose. She wrinkled it in response and he grinned before continuing, “And it goes without saying that I miss you like absolute crazy whenever we’re not together.”</p><p> </p><p>“Is that why you flew Appa all the way down to get me?” She asked in mock surprise.</p><p> </p><p>“That might have had something to do with it,” he joked. “Katara… is this really what you want? None of this feels real.”</p><p> </p><p>“Aang,” she said, kissing his jawline pointedly, “I’m sure. Maybe… if we go again it will help show you I’m serious?” she asked with a mischievous smile, wiggling her hips against his own. His cock twitched against her center in response and her grin widened.</p><p> </p><p>“It couldn’t hurt,” he breathed, leaning up to catch her lips. They started all over again, then, eager to get to know each other’s bodies.</p>
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